The Third Everdeen

Chapter 47

When we left the building no one dared to look at our fallen soldiers as we passed their blacked-out bodies. 

"C'mon this way!" Gale called slowly jogging forward, wanting to get us away from there as fast as possible. 

We broke into a pretty safe looking building across from the oil incident and started setting up shelter, "Get these curtains closed," Jackson ordered. 

Katniss and I ran to the curtains and covered the windows. Just then we heard vehicles, slowly we peeked out to see dozens of Peacekeepers running to where we had been. They started opening fire on the floor where the Leegs sisters were hiding. 

"No..." I whispered, then there was a boom as they shot a missile and blew up the whole building without a second thought, "They're ruthless."

We all crouched down when the building exploded, I was having trouble breathing again when suddenly the television screen in the middle of the room started flashing with the words: "MANDATORY VIEWING: Attention all Panem Residents"

Caesar came on the screen, his face serious. "Good afternoon, I am Caesar Flickerman. Here with our continuing coverage of the defense of the Capitol. Today, as our Peacekeepers valiantly hold off the rebels, our story takes a surprising twist," The screen showed footage of me and the squad running into the dead-end. "Lily Everdeen, our once favorite daughter, has infiltrated the city with some of the Victors, whose names are all too familiar. Finnick Odair and Peeta Mellark." They showed the footage of Peeta attacking me, I looked over at him and he was watching the screen with tears in his eyes. "Clearly some alliances don't last forever," He had a sarcastic tone in his voice. "Take a look at what happened just a moment ago, when our Peacekeepers cornered Lily Everdeen and her band of foolish rebels. Whatever arrogance brought this treacherous girl back to us, you are about to witness a great victory, not only for The Capitol, but for Panem." The screen showed the Peacekeepers firing on the building the Leegs sisters were in, then the explosion that happened just moments after. Seeing it a second time didn't make it any less painful. "So there you have it. Lily Everdeen, the Girl on Fire, a girl who inspired so much violence, seems to have met a violent end herself." I rolled my eyes, they didn't even check to see if I was in the building before they blew it up so they really want to believe that I'm dead, "Stay tuned for more information. Caesar Flickerman. Thank you." The screen faded back to the capitol logo. 

"So we're dead." Katniss nodded.

"What do we do now?" Gale asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Peeta breathed. "The next move is to kill me." I turned to face him, I wanted to be closer to him but Katniss stopped me, wanting to keep me safe, "I murdered one of our squad members. Lily is right. I'm a mutt." Tears welled in my eyes but I brushed them away, "It's only a matter of time before I snap again. I'm not in control." he cried, "I need a nightlock pill, so I can die when I need to."

"If you get to that point I'll kill you myself," Gale told him and I sent him a look but he shook his head at me.

~

At dinner everyone ate except me and Peeta. I sat next to Katniss just staring at the rations in front of me, not hungry. Once in a while I would sneak a glance at Peeta. 

"Ya know, I don't think I ever really understood the Capitol until now." Gale noted.

Katniss nodded, "You eat like this, and you'll believe anything." She agreed taking a bite of her food.

The television flashed again and then an all too familiar sound rang through the speakers. Cannons booming. And for each boom they showed a member of our squad. When Finnick's picture got on the screen I saw him laugh, probably because at this point he never thought he'd actually hear a cannon for him. Then Peeta's face was on the screen, followed by Katniss. seeing her face on that screen reminded me of what I was trying to avoid when I first volunteered for the Games. My face was the last one. 

"So, Katniss Everdeen, a poor unstable girl with nothing but a small talent with a knife, is dead." Snow announced. "Not a thinker, not a leader. Nothing more than a face that was plucked from the masses. Was she valuable? She was extremely valuable to your rebellion because you have no vision, no true leader among you. You call yourself an alliance. But we saw what that means. Your soldiers are at each other's throats..." Slowly Snow faded out on the screen and Coin faded in.

"Good evening. For those of you who don't know me, please allow me to introduce myself. I am President Alma Coin, leader of the rebellion. I have interrupted a broadcast from your President in which he attempted to defame a brave and selfless young woman. 'A face picked from the masses,' he called her. As if a leader, a true leader, could be anything else. I had the privilege of knowing a small-town girl from the Seam in District 12 who survived the Hunger Games and the Quarter Quell and rose up and turned a nation of slaves into an army!" her voice had passion and feeling, it was really quite an act, even I almost believed she meant it, "Dead or alive, Lily Everdeen will remain the face of this revolution. She will not have died for nothing."

I chuckled. "It's almost as if I meant a lot to her."

"Her vision and ours will be realized. A free Panem with self-determination for all. And in her memory, we will all find the strength to be-rid Panem of its oppressors. Thank you and be safe." The screen faded to a picture of me in my Mockingjay outfit, the whistle rang through and a banner under my picture read "remember the Mockingjay".

I stood up and took out the Holo, "Snow's in his mansion. Where is that in relation to here?" I placed it on the table and a holographic map popped up.

Cressida pointed to the left most side of the map, "That's us," Then she pointed to the right of the map, "And that's the City Circle. At least 70, maybe 75 blocks north."

Finnick looked at her, "75 blocks?" He confirmed and she nodded.

"No one knows we're alive, this is our chance," Katniss looked at me.

I looked at the map and pointed, "These buildings here, do they look over Snow's gardens?" 

Cressida hesitated but Messalla nodded, "They do."

I looked at the buildings. "If he goes outside I would have a clear shot."

Jackson shook her head, "We're getting ahead of ourselves. Whether or not they're looking for us, we're pinned down. Hit that button, scan for pods." She told me. 

I pressed the button and hundreds of thousands of red dots appeared on the map.

"Basically every ten steps," Messalla nodded.

"Yeah but that doesn't even include any new ones," Gale added.

"So we can't go anywhere in the streets." Finnck stared.

"And rooftops are just as bad," Jackson noted.

Pollux got our attention and simply pointed down. I looked at him confused but Castor must have understood what he was saying. "There might be another way."